


The Matter of a Soul

by JackFettGames



Category: Deltarune (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety, But she doesn't get far (at first), Child Neglect, Gen, Hours, It's going to be okay Noelle, Kris Goes Missing, Nonbinary Kris (Deltarune), Officer Undyne, Scientist Papyrus, Susie tries so hard, Tags and Summary to Be Expanded As the Story Progresses, Yes All the Pain, Yes All the Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:20:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21719071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackFettGames/pseuds/JackFettGames
Summary: It has been one month since Kris Dreemurr went missing.Waking up from a surreal dream, Susie resolves to comfort her former teacher, Miss Toriel Dreemurr, after the loss of her child.  In doing so, Susie discovers something that will shape the course of the world over the coming day.Noelle, too, wakes up from a disturbing dream, holding a single phrase with her as she follows Susie through the day.For Officer Undyne, the coming day seems typical, but that perception won't remain for long.All three continue into their own journeys, twisting and intertwining, as the day progresses, hour by hour.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	1. 5:00 AM

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I'm Jack! I've had this story in my head for a while now, and I wanted to realize its first chapter. It might be a while before I am able to make any other chapters, but I hope this one is enjoyable, and thank you for reading it!

Lights, reflected from a flood of water pulsing far below this stone walkway— The lights performed a willowy dance among the walls of the otherwise unlit cave. They might not have been noticeable if the cave contained any other light with more strength or purity, but alone as these lights were now, they captivated all attention. And the lack of direct light seemed quite fitting for a place called “The Dark World.” It seemed right that only the weakest hints, reflections, shone here. Surprisingly, they weren’t poor substitutes for their pure counterparts, especially in their unpredictable, drifting, mesmerizing performance.

Susie strode along the raised stone walkway, gait slow and meandering, as a new, fainter light joined the dance beside her. Its appearance captured her eye, and as Susie turned her head toward it, she stopped in her tracks to admire the flowing art upon the cave wall. Her eyes pursued the wavering white rings as they faded in and out, in a rhythm all their own, truly an extravagant, awe-inspiring sight.

Susie pointedly ripped her gaze away from the wall. This was a problem, right? The bottom of these caves shouldn’t be filled with water— They weren’t the last time she was here, at least. She should tell Lancer about this. He could find someone in the kingdom who could deal with this new problem. Then everything would be right in this world once again. Everything would go back to normal, and she could laugh about it with her friends. Then, well, they could hang out and laugh and eat pies and bully Ralsei just like all times before.

Susie realized that her eyes had drifted to rejoin the dance. Okay, now it was time to stop getting distracted. She had to get to Lancer as soon as possible. Susie quickened her stride, her footsteps carelessly lobbing loose pebbles down the side of the walkway with a clatter and, if she strained to listen, a faint splash. She only held an unconscious trace of regret as she left the wistful dance behind.

Just a little way down the path, Susie witnessed Ralsei’s castle approaching from the distance. How was Ralsei doing, anyway? Susie had to admit to herself, she had recently been neglecting to spend time with him. But Lancer needed help ruling every minute aspect of his kingdom, and— Okay, she did enjoy hanging out with him more. Ralsei was nice and unexpectedly genuine, but Lancer didn’t hide what he thought at all, that little rascal. A smile ghosted on Susie’s lips. Another day with him seemed perfect, after they dealt with the flood. And she guessed Ralsei could tag along.

Susie glanced once around as she came upon the empty town, eyes drawn to another reflection of light shining from the fountain at its entrance. She snapped her gaze back to the wooden door of the castle, using the signature force of her knock to signify that it was, indeed, her. Ralsei was probably making a cake right now as he always seemed to be. He kept at least twenty cakes prepared for every time she visited. Not that she minded— Susie always relished a good cake. But her arrival should inspire Ralsei to jolt up and take a break from his constant baking. Everyone needed a break at some point; Ralsei just needed additional encouragement to take it. And if he didn’t take that break, well, he just might end up drowning in all the batter he made. Susie chuckled to herself as she waited for Ralsei to open the door.

“You came back!” Susie whipped around to face Ralsei, emerging from behind the small fountain. He closed his eyes in full submission to a wide, simple smile, then opened them again to address Susie directly. “Not that I didn’t expect it, of course. You are a great friend.”

That last comment might be a bit of a stretch, but it wasn’t worth the effort to correct. Susie just smirked. “Hey, Rals.”

“I have many things for us to see and talk about and eat, of course!” Susie’s stomach grumbled at the thought as Ralsei ran toward her, almost skipping. He grabbed her hand. “I believe it’ll be quite fun!” he exclaimed, attempting to pull Susie along. He wasn’t strong enough to actually pull Susie anywhere, but she walked in tandem with his stride, allowing them to progress. She really just wanted to get to Lancer, tell him about the flood, and hang out for a bit.

Ralsei, and consequently Susie, quickened their gait as they came near the exit to the town. Susie kept her eyes on Ralsei, noting that his joy may have been a little infectious as— Susie slammed her shin into the fountain hard enough to meet the ground and drag Ralsei down with her. Blunt waves of pain began crashing in from the injured area. Ow. So much for the good mood.

Susie pushed herself back up and brushed off some adamant pebbles, expecting to feel slightly sore from the impact. But she didn’t feel pain so much as woozy instability. Huh? That wasn’t a particularly hard fall. She just tripped. Wait, now the ground was tipping toward her— No, she was falling over. Fortunately, she caught herself on the edge of the fountain, her hand brushing over a point of bright, reflected light. Susie was about to sit down and figure out why the hell her legs were giving up on her, when words blared in her mind’s eye—

THE GROWING POWER OF THIS PLACE SHINES WITHIN YOU

Ralsei dragged Susie’s arm to his chest, drawing it out into her vision. It was… It was her arm, she could feel Ralsei’s touch upon her skin, but it wasn’t her arm, it wasn’t her skin. She would know if her skin turned blue, right? She had seen her arm rendered pink as she entered the Dark World, right? Susie’s mind spun and spun and jumbled Ralsei’s next words so much that only the complete extent of her concentration could decipher them.

“I just want to remind you, your choices matter.

“Kris.”

\---

Susie shot to consciousness, the name from her dream oddly… stimulating. Kris. Why was she still thinking about Kris? Sure, they had been nice on her first trip to the Dark World, about a month ago, but that trip was the only time they ever interacted. After that, they… vanished. It was a whole event: seemingly everyone in Hometown joined the search party, but after the first week, people started trickling out. Susie left the week after that. If Kris hadn’t been found by that point, they wanted to be lost, or they were dead. Either way, it was no use to keep searching for them. They would show up, in one way or another, if the world deemed it fitting, so why even worry about them?

All Susie should worry about now was the present. She reached her hand blindly through her shadowed room, not yet lit by the morning sun, to where she knew her alarm clock to be, turning it to face her. 5:17 AM. Otherwise known as way too early to be awake. Ugh. She didn’t even think she could get back to sleep, the name from her dream jolting her with such intensity. Great, and she was back to thinking about Kris.

Well, since her mind barred her from the sweetness of unconsciousness, Susie had to think of a way to make use of her life. She lifted herself out of bed and, with the faint streetlights from outside, observed herself in the mirror. Intimidating as always, heh. Maybe she could show that Berdly kid his place before she went down to the Dark World today. That’d be fun. Susie began to walk back to her bed, deciding who else would be fun to scare— Miss Alphys, definitely— before her foot brushed against an unseen object abandoned on the ground, and, remembering her dream, she stopped to prevent any collapse.

While she was stationary, Susie took the time to bend down and find out what exactly caused her to stop. It was an envelope, roughly opened, but a letter still rested within. Susie drew it out and immediately recognised the calligraphy— Miss Toriel. She approached Susie in class, two weeks ago, with this letter astutely gripped in her hand. With a simple, warm, and quick smile, Miss Toriel gave Susie the letter and quietly stepped out of the classroom. Bringing the letter home, Susie had only managed to read it once before:

My Dear Former Student, Susie,

I hope that you are not too hurt by the decision to stop the search for your friend, Kris. I wish I could have done more to help them, but I was unable, and I apologize. You may choose not to forgive me, but please allow me to extend my support to you. Take what care you need, and thank you for being such a good friend to my child, however brief it was.

Sincerely,

Miss Toriel

Reading the letter now, Susie realized that, ever since Miss Toriel had given it to her, Susie hadn’t seen her. Susie knew Miss Toriel came to school— Honestly, the building would probably explode without her. But she didn’t seem to leave her classroom at all, at least to Susie. Really, it should be Susie hoping that Miss Toriel wasn’t too hurt by ending the search. For every hour Kris spent as a friend to Susie in the Dark World, they spent two years as Miss Toriel’s child in the Light World. Susie had experience in losing someone she knew for that long, and she could only imagine how Miss Toriel suffered.

Or Susie could find out if she went over to check on Miss Toriel. Of all the residents of Hometown, she was the most likely to be awake at this hour, up and moving to get ready for the school day ahead. And she would be the most accepting of an early morning visit, definitely. And really, what else would Susie do with her time? So, she adjusted her hoodie and stepped out of the creaking bedroom door.

The static crawled across the old television screen in the main room of the apartment, just like always. Susie didn’t need to move slowly and quietly as she traversed the familiar piles of bottles and cans strewn upon the ground— The person who used to be her dad blacked out the night before, and it would take a blaring siren placed right next to his ear to ignite even a shadow of consciousness within him— but, recalling her dream once again, she elected to walk with care anyway. At least the apartment wasn’t very large. Susie soon came to its front door, leaving the blinding light of the static behind.

Deafening silence permeated the hallway as Susie paused to take a breath. As soon as the hot tension from traversing the apartment left her, a striking cold emitted from her surroundings took its place. There… there should be some noise surrounding her, a striking laugh or cry or scream, but it just wasn’t there. There was only silence and tension and a touch of longing hanging in the air. After Susie collected herself, she felt the silence press into her on all sides, and she sped toward the stairwell in a compulsion to get out of its grasp.

The silence continued to agitate Susie as she wildly descended the stairwell. Stillness and silence meant danger; they meant that something had gone horribly wrong; they meant that her father was on the couch as Susie came home from school one day, feverishly turning his wedding ring around his finger, gripping a photo of her mother with white knuckles as if letting go of the photo would be letting go of her memory, the only thing left. Susie landed on the bottom of the stairwell and thrust herself at the backdoor to the apartment building, hoping to escape that train of thought.

The door resisted halfheartedly, then opened unto a landscape evenly coated in a flood of snow, no matter what surface it laid on, whether soil or pavement. As Susie burst out upon the coating, her steps slowed as they sunk into those few inches of snow, and she realized that her footprints were its first disturbance. All else rested, motionless, as Susie took the first steps of the day, paving the tracks that the other residents of Hometown would see in the morning. She paused only a second before deciding that honor wasn’t one in which she particularly revelled, and she continued her trek.

A forceful gust of wind wrapped itself around Susie, dragging anything unstable along with it: old street lamps and mailboxes and the loose surface layer of snow. She continued to trudge against the wind until a piece of paper caught by the gust impeded her vision. Jeez, the world did not want her to visit Miss Toriel. Susie ripped the paper off of her face and held it in the flickering streetlight before her. ‘Missing: Kris, 14, last seen wearing a green shirt with a yellow stripe, mahogany pants, and matching shoes.’ And their picture lay below the text. Susie let go of the poster, letting the wind take it wherever it deigned to go. It was no loss on her part. And that poster must have been one of the last ones still posted, for she didn’t see any others around.

Susie resumed her trek through the snow. What would she even say to Miss Toriel? “Sorry that you lost your child, I knew them for about a day, definitely not enough time to truly miss them, but I want to force myself into your life now?” Ugh, maybe Susie shouldn’t visit Miss Toriel; she might only worsen Miss Toriel’s mood. But Susie was already braving the cold, early morning, and Miss Toriel was a good mother. She deserved support, however flimsy. The very least Susie could do while they were the only ones awake was attempt to provide it. So, she continued, finally coming to Miss Toriel’s driveway and reaching her door.

Augh, Susie forgot to plan what she would say. Well, did she ever plan anything? Just go ahead and knock on the door. After that, Susie would only have to wait for a response. Seconds trudged along through this dark and cold morning, leading Susie to believe that her efforts would bear no fruit as they passed. Then, a warm yellow light, almost orange, ignited in the small front window of the Dreemurr household, a beacon onto which Susie locked her view and her hopes. A few more trudging seconds, and the door opened to reveal Miss Toriel.

“Oh! … Greetings, Susie. I did not expect anyone at this hour. I apologize for my appearance. Please, do come in!”

Miss Toriel wasn’t dressed differently than any other day at school— donning a fairly plain violet dress and glasses in kind— but what would Susie do, confront her about it? She came to comfort Miss Toriel! Augh. Seeing her stretch out her hand, Susie accepted it, allowing herself to simply be led into the brightened Dreemurr household.

As Susie entered the doorway, she noticed a peculiar shift in the atmosphere, as if it were more humid inside the house than out in the snow, but not exactly. Maybe it was just her tired mind, who knows? Miss Toriel stopped after a few sparing steps, redirecting Susie’s focus to the fact that the front door immediately opened unto the living room. That was convenient for visitors, she supposed. Miss Toriel took a seat in a large beige recliner, folding her hands, turning her eyes and smile directly to Susie. Susie returned her gaze, then moved for the recliner opposite her. As Susie sat down, Miss Toriel’s eyes unfocused, her pupils shrinking and blurring, as if she were searching for something far in the distance. Their loss of focus only lasted for a split second as they trained on Susie, refocusing once she settled.

“What is it that draws you here at this hour, Susie?” Miss Toriel remained still in her chair, back straight, but eyes soft like winter blankets. “I hope it is not some terrible occurrence.”

Susie shifted in the recliner, repositioning herself in response to the rising heat in the room and to easily face Miss Toriel. “No, um, it’s not like that. I, uh, just wanted to see how you were doing.”

“Oh.” Miss Toriel’s eyes unfocused for another split second. “Susie, you should not have to concern yourself with the well being of your teachers, especially not mine. I appreciate your determination to help me, but do not believe that I require it.” Her eyes still retained comfort, but they gained a glassy, reflective complexion.

“Uh, I didn’t feel… You didn’t do anything to force me to do it. I only wanted to.” Susie suppressed the urge to reposition herself again.

Miss Toriel sighed, then quickly regained her warm smile. “Do not worry about me, for I do not feel any particular grievance.” The room drifted into a desperate, yet thankfully short, silence. “I wish to inquire how you are faring with your schoolwork.”

Of course she did, she was a teacher, after all. But there was something behind that inquiry— perhaps in its sudden proposal, or the tone in which Miss Toriel asked it— something that made it seem… disingenuous, but not exactly, because there was genuineness behind its guise. Wait, when was Susie able to make that kind of observation? She barely understood why that reindeer girl— Noelle, right?— stared at her for such long periods of time. Ugh, Susie felt tired, and slightly woozy, and maybe she was just making all of this up. But still. She came to comfort Miss Toriel.

“I understand how you feel about stopping the search for Kris.” Jeez, that was strong, Susie. Miss Toriel probably wouldn’t like it. Yet… it was necessary, to strike at the heart of this visit, in order to open it. Or else Susie was just the big bully of Hometown, shouldn’t matter to her.

Miss Toriel’s eyes unfocused once more, this time not reverting to focus instantaneously. They simply remained unguided as silence truly overtook the room. An agonizing, single second came, turning the whole world in its stride, showing the strength it had to end everything, that instant. Yet, it just turned the world as every other second, trusting something else to make change. Susie, attentive to the second to escape the silence, wondered why this second, and all others of its kind, would give its power away so consistently, without any deviation. Then the second passed, and Miss Toriel’s eyes refocused.

“I must repeat myself: you should not feel required to comfort me. I very much appreciate your efforts to aid me through the… absence of my child, but I will work through it in my own time. Now, you must be tired and hungry. Let me get you some pie.”

Finality condensed in the air as Miss Toriel pushed herself up from her chair, a finality which gusted toward Susie and rested upon her, poking at her with tendrils of insecurity. All Miss Toriel would accept from Susie now was a shared pie and a lighthearted departure. Augh, why did she screw up so much! All Susie wanted was to comfort Miss Toriel, but she tripped and ruined it all! Apparently, she could only find nice words to say to Ralsei and Lancer and no one else. Susie wanted to do something grand and destructive, like punching out a light or punting the television out the window, but what would it do? Nothing would change, no matter what she chose to do. So she kept sitting in that unfittingly comfortable chair, hands shaking with tension.

A clatter of metal, pots and pans, sounded from the kitchen— Maybe Miss Toriel was having trouble finding the pie? But how would Susie even help? She would just render the pie impossible to find. Argh, the world grated on her, especially the yellow-orange lights surrounding her, encasing her, staring at her, expecting her to fail yet again. But if she lashed out at them, Susie knew they would cease their interest in her and just be normal lightbulbs, fragile and not worth breaking, angering Miss Toriel— overtly angering her— if they were broken.

Susie didn’t have the time to process what happened next until she was outside, staring at a red glow while encased by navy cold. One second, Susie felt her conscious mind sink into her body. The next, her brain started to prickle, as if it were sailing through tall waves of static. The next, a gunshot with no sound, yet piercing heat focused on a single point in her back, the one point of clarity onto which her mind could latch. The next, the heat oozed through her body, and her mind slipped back into the sea as the waves of static turned into pure pain. The next, relief, now a shock, almost shut her down. She could feel the world slipping, but she found the ability to grab its edge and pull it back. The next, Miss Toriel held a steaming slice of pie in front of Susie, for enough time had passed for her to find the pie and heat it.

“I hope that this pie will warm your soul with hope for the coming day. That is all I want from you, Susie. Hope. And I do hope that I was not too forceful with you this morning.”

Susie moved to take the pie, hands now shaking from the memory of pain rather than from tension in anticipation for the future. But it wasn’t like Susie hadn’t felt odd pains before, right? “... Thanks.”

The rest of the visit was quiet, intent to avoid focusing on anything meaningful. Susie trained her gaze on the pie in front of her, sensing Miss Toriel’s eyes trained on her. The clink of a metal fork against the plate became the only notable sound ringing through the house, yet it was enough to ward off complete silence. Too soon, the pie was gone, and the only thing left to do was to leave the house and head back home, however reluctantly.

“I wish you farewell, Susie.” As Susie pushed herself up to depart, Miss Toriel stood with a warm expression, yet it still retained the air of being an emotional veil, closed to the world. Her eyes, however, were open, still staring into the distance.

“... I hope your day goes well. Better than they have been.” Susie hoped that this last effort would drag Miss Toriel’s gaze away from the distance, no matter how discouraged she felt. If only she were better at helping people, she could do more. Susie walked out the door, Miss Toriel closing it after a simple second’s pause.

The day hadn’t yet gained a hint of sunrise, and Susie’s tracks were still clear on the canvas of snow. As Susie walked down the driveway, it crossed her mind that she didn’t want to go home just yet. She usually avoided the pressure of the static by being late, whether in waking up or coming home, but today was unusual, and everything had started early. Too early. It was too early for anyone to be awake, or at least, it should be.

A thrum quaked through Susie as she left the tension of the Dreemurr house. It felt like a pit inside of her, its vibrations becoming waves which coursed through the sea of tension and time, all contained within Susie herself. The pit should have been hollow, but it felt solid, a beacon in the center of the sea, and Susie felt that she could reach for it, pull it out from the figurative into the literal.

A red light flashed into existence, shining from the heart-shape before her, the heart-shape that just emerged from her chest. Uh… That… wasn’t right? It wasn’t… normal, but it wasn’t hurting her now, either. Wait, it looked familiar, like something she saw in the Dark— Kris. Their soul. It all came back to Kris, huh? They still kept crawling to the forefront of her mind, now in the form of a red human soul, now drifting back into her body as if it had always resided there.

Well, the world must have deemed it right for Susie to inherit the soul. Kris certainly wasn’t around to claim it. At another time, she might have accepted that fact and gone about her day as normal, despite the new resident in her chest. But as she walked through the snow once again, aimless but seeking an objective, she became increasingly impassioned to resist the world and make her life her own, for once.


	2. 6:00 AM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya! Here’s the next installment in my story! I know it took a while to get out, but I hope it wasn’t too much of a wait. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my work, and thank you for reading it!

With a rhythmic pulse, Noelle’s alarm clock vibrated through the droplets of cold sweat formed across her body, summoning her to the conscious world. Her waking moments were always her most peaceful, before her mind had the time or the presence to recount to her the many ways the coming day could fall apart and the equally many ways she couldn’t prevent it. Of course, her thoughts already turned in that direction, without her biddance or desire, but they hadn’t taken full form yet. To stagnate the formation of her thoughts further, Noelle gave herself up to mindless habit, thankfully formed from the years of days when she strictly stuck to her morning routine.

Noelle stood up from her bed. She took a simple winter outfit from her dresser: a seasonal pair of pants with her usual green and red and black sweater. She pushed open her bedroom door. She swayed down the hallway. Her footsteps creaked against the floorboards. Shadows danced along the walls, and their dance might mesmerize, but Noelle paid them no heed. She refocused on the oncoming bathroom door. She entered when it arrived. She drew up a lightswitch. She finally closed the door, undressed, and prepared to immerse herself in the warm luxury of a shower.

After a minute’s wait, allowing the water to heat, Noelle plunged herself into the stream.

A combination of light, warmth, and water flowing down her body eased her mind into full functionality, and she finally, fully, realized where she stood right now. She was in the shower, in her house— her otherwise empty house. Dad laid in the hospital, where he had lain for over a month. And her mother took a business trip… When was it? Three days ago, right. Well, her mother continuously asserted that Noelle was old enough to spend a few days by herself, so she must be. Noelle set her shoulders, then relaxed them back into the streaming warmth. There were only a couple more days before her mother returned, even if they seemed like eternities. At least Noelle recalled that fact with some semblance of good spirit.

Loneliness encroached upon every aspect of Noelle’s life, even outside her house. Berdly insisted on claiming her as his “friend—” well, as “the second smartest student in Hometown—” and as everyone else in their class avoided his self-aggrandisement, they avoided her by proxy. As they did, worries ignited within Noelle. What did they think of her for seeming so close to Berdly, even if it was against her will?

Kris was the only one who talked to her, stemming the tension broiling within her for a time, however short it was. But they… weren’t here anymore. All she could do now was distract herself from her almost constant anxiety, dreaming that Susie would somehow whisk her away to where they could live in eternal happiness, perhaps even love. Heh. Her hopes rose too far. Noelle angled herself to scrub the back of her head with a strongly peppermint-scented shampoo.

Usually, Noelle took these moments, the moments when she felt the most exhausted and disillusioned with the waking world, to reflect upon the other world she knew— her dreams. Well, she only partially knew her dreams; apparently, others had bright, surreal visions as they slept. Noelle couldn’t picture it; she always dreamed in audio, in voices, with no image in sight. Yet she experienced a great comfort in the presence of the voices: not as great as in her waking moments, yet still strong and compelling. She felt she couldn’t achieve this comfort if she saw the owners of the voices. She guessed the lack of sight disconnected her enough from the reality of her dreams to prevent her from worrying about any imagined danger, permitting her to truly embrace that reality and all it contained.

But… last night was different, from what Noelle remembered. The voices weren’t harsher, she was sure. But one comment they made contained something deeper than most nights, something that shook her core, something that would affect the world as it continued to rest in Noelle’s mind. At least, Noelle felt it would. The words in her head certainly burned enough to do so. They emerged to the forefront.

“The human and the monster will sacrifice themselves on this day.”

Noelle finished washing herself, but she wished to remain in the shower for another minute, to remain in its warm comfort, safe and away from the freezing outside. The words probably meant nothing, she knew. They were just another irrational stressor on her addled brain. Besides, they… Kris was still gone. There were no other humans in Hometown. Her dreams often held a perceptive calm that she wished she retained, but they couldn’t affect the grasp with which reality held her. She just had to stay put and live day by day, dealing with the world and herself as each problem arose.

Noelle sighed. If her mind formed such harrowing thoughts this morning, so soon after the calm upon waking, the rest of the day did not promise to be kinder.

Noelle turned off the water and plunged back into the open air. She felt its chill, freezing around her soaked body, so she quickly drew a towel from the ground, drying her body enough to crawl into her winter outfit. Noelle wished Dad would get well enough to come home again. Until a month ago, she saw her house, too, as a shelter from the struggles of her life and her mind. Dad— the one person she could always trust— set his alarm thirty minutes before hers, so he could greet her into the day as she woke up. They would have a simple breakfast together— Dad couldn’t bake anything complex, and school started soon anyway— and laugh over the struggles of both their past days.

Noelle pulled herself into her pants, then her sweater. Those mornings, those breakfasts, Noelle sorely missed them this past month, and the only thing she could do about them now was desperately hope they would return. In the meantime, she just ate some fruit on her way to school and found ways to distract herself in her own house. Usually, it involved cleaning. Noelle didn’t hold any particular passion for it, but it passed the time when she had no other recourse but to lie down and allow her worries to consume her. Cleaning required just enough brainpower to ward off existential dread, so Noelle wholeheartedly embraced it.

When she reflected upon her life, which she, admittedly, frequently did, Noelle utilized the cleanliness of her room as an indicator of her emotional state. As a child, in her excitement for existing and meeting others who existed, especially her new human neighbor, discarded objects piled in her room. As she grew a bit older, and Kris began to constantly prank her, she would clean on rough weekly intervals. More years passed, and as Kris developed from a joyful trickster to a smoldering enigma, the intervals shrunk from weeks to mere days. She almost felt that she lost Kris, even though they were right there, her neighbor, as always. Her past thoughts seemed so ironic now.

Noelle remembered herself in her present state, and her mind finally registered the bathroom in full. It bathed itself in white light: the red-striped white shower curtains, the green carpet and red towels, the gingerbread soap and the peppermint shampoo, the blue cabinet adorned with snowflakes of paint, and the relatively plain sink and mirror in front of which she found herself. Everything around her was pristine, just like her room. Noelle would have to find another room in the house to clean and distract herself from the fact that she was running out of unclean rooms.

As she took a brush, her coordinated attack against the tangle of hair upon her head, Noelle’s eyes brushed across her mirror image. Shadows deepened under her eyes, even though she got the same amount of sleep as always. All of her fur was askew, and Noelle didn’t have the resources to properly groom it. Hopefully, it would naturally fall into place. Other than those two details, her appearance contained nothing of note, and Noelle eagerly disconnected her mind from it once more.

Now groomed and clothed and none the better looking for it, Noelle reentered the hallway. The dancing shadows remained upon the wall, cast through the curtains on the windows opposite, creating an effect that might have entranced Noelle if she didn’t see it every day. If she were more innocent of it. Instead, she simply walked down the plain-walled hallway without pause, aiming to make her bed and check that she had everything prepared for school before searching for another room to clean.

Noelle, coming to her bed, paused a second to appreciate her trusted plush, lying in the place where she unconsciously left it the previous night. The plush was a shadowed figure, wearing a cloak like those pictures of sherpas on the brochures in her mother’s office, except less geared for winter weather. The cloaked figure was a guide, even as a plush; they guided her into the peace of her dreams, the peace of the voices, and back out again, as if they were rowing a boat on a gentle tide. Now, too, it served as the sole constant comfort in Noelle’s life, in the midst of her fervent anxiety, in the midst of her consciousness. Noelle set the old plush carefully between her two pillows, wishing it a good day’s rest. She certainly wouldn’t have any.

Finally drawing her blankets over the plush, Noelle froze from a familiar fear of the day ahead. Today, everything could go wrong. That fact was true of every day, all rushing in from the future to assault Noelle’s mind, rendering her heartbeat so fast that if she were to move, her heart would burst, dust spurting across the room, pouring out of her like the ketchup on Kris’s arms did not. She had to stay still, and once her purposeful breaths slowed her heart enough, she simply had to continue with the day, as it always occurred.

The jingling of sleigh bells invaded the empty silence of the house.

Noelle felt fear and confusion. Fear, because those bells meant that a visitor rang the doorbell on her gate, and she didn’t want any visitors while she was home alone. Confusion, because it was 6:25 AM, according to the alarm clock dutifully positioned on her bedside table. It was too early for any normal visitor.

But she must face the visitor to send them on their way.

Making her way through her house to her door, Noelle paused after grabbing a coat from the rack. Sensing the imminent onslaught that her irrational fears would launch upon her mind, Noelle gave herself simple, rational thoughts of calming. Hometown was a small community. The most dangerous person in it, the person most capable of harming her, was a police officer, a protective force. But the human kidnappers in the night, they could— No. They weren’t real. They were just a legend, invented by her own mind and perpetuated by Kris. And completely disproven by Dad.

But what if it was Berdly, extending his harm to her home?

Noelle had no answer.

But she already donned a hefty coat.

She just had to carry on.

Opening the left door to her house, Noelle realized the substantial amount of snow that fell last night, and she paused long enough to realize that she almost forgot to grab her key from the foyer. If she was tired enough to forget such an integral object, it was surely too early in the day for a normal visitor. Noelle told her brain to stop that train of worry.

Noelle then slipped into the cold outside, letting the door close behind her. She must face the visitor, even as the freeze of the snow seeped into her legs, freezing them in tandem. Noelle must continue, or her life ended there. So she trudged. The wind howled along, pushing a few surface snowflakes with it, but otherwise, it didn’t make any lasting change.

The gate approached, and a shadowed figure stood under the light of a streetlamp. Noelle intently focused on the figure to avoid thinking about anything beyond their physical form, not considering any ill intentions they might have, nor any danger they might bring— Noelle shivered under the cold, then stopped. Her thoughts, finally, stilled, following her bidding. She progressed. She reached the gate.

The figure was Susie, her image enshrined under light from above, in her wrinkled hoodie and her beautiful visage.

Noelle froze as if Susie were a pair of headlights coming down the road, crashing into Noelle’s life. However, her unrealistic hopes reached her first. Was it time? Had Susie truly come to rescue her? No, that was ridiculous. Susie barely even knew her. Noelle was— and possibly, she feared, always would be— just another classmate of Susie’s, along with all the others Susie ignored. Feeling her doubts, harrowingly rational, settle her heart, Noelle found herself continuing to the gate, continuing to Susie’s downturned gaze.

The final crunch of snow, of Noelle arresting her footsteps at the gate, prompted Susie to look up.

“Hey, Noelle.”

Even through all her doubting fears, Noelle’s heart swooned at those two words, two words she never expected to hear, two words that represented progress in their relationship, even if it was small, two words that almost rendered her unable to say any at all. Almost.

“Uh… Hiya, Susie.”

Susie’s eyes darted across their surroundings, perhaps showing more freedom than Noelle’s, perhaps showing more discomfort, or perhaps showing a simple, casual expression. In any case, Noelle’s eyes trained on Susie, a definite contrast. Once Susie rested her gaze on Noelle, she leaned forward, her hands catching her before her face hit the gate. “So, may I come in?”

Exactly how Noelle envisioned Susie would come to her. Well, there was no noble steed or property damage, no broken school doors or desks or students, and definitely no sunlight spilling from behind Susie, but this moment captured the spirit of the one Noelle imagined. The two images, one of her hopes and the other of reality, they only significantly differed in that one was, in fact, real, and Noelle had to respond to it. She always imagined that Susie would simply pick her up and steal her away. Now, Noelle felt the freeze of anxiety seep through her limbs as Susie’s presence, impeded by the iron gate before her house, demanded her action.

Of course, Noelle wanted to let Susie into her house; it was her absolute pleasure. But her mother might come home at any moment, unannounced and unexpected, to find the two in a compromising position. Oh dear, or Susie might actually take it too far. Noelle hadn’t truly interacted with Susie at all; she didn’t know Susie’s reasons for visiting her at home, alone. Noelle’s heart jittered in all the doubts she had, moving so violently that she barely realized she herself was not moving, just standing frozen behind her gate, forcing Susie to wait in the cold as well.

“Augh, was that not right?” Susie seemed to want to mutter that comment to herself, angling her head downward again and turning to the side. Yet, she spoke it loud enough for Noelle to clearly make it out.

And it definitely made an impact. “N-No! I’ll get the gate for ya, hold on!” Come on, Noelle, this was Susie! You only have so many chances to hang out with her before you both move on with your lives! You gotta make this moment count!

Noelle pulled out her key and unlocked the gate with a shuddering creak over the layer of snow on the ground. Holding open the gate, she quickly flicked her eyes back to Susie, and she wanted to say something that would lighten the mood. But would Susie think it obsessive? Noelle resolved not to say anything. No need to act under that undue risk.

“Thanks.” Susie broke the silence, which seemed odd to Noelle, despite herself. Usually Susie was quiet, slinking to the back of the classroom, that world which held Noelle in its dark allure. But she was willing to accept this perceived oddity as a consequence of not interacting with Susie before now.

“So, I guess we should walk up to your house, then.” Susie held out her hand to Noelle, and the image filled Noelle’s mind with nothing but awe as she responded.

“Y-Yeah, um… let’s go.”

The air felt less harsh as Noelle returned to her house, perhaps because she now shared Susie’s body heat, perhaps because Susie made her body warm anyway. And it might have been a consequence of the dark, but Noelle began to regain the comfort of her dreams, if not her waking moments, as they trudged back through the snow. Susie didn’t immediately hate her. Susie wanted to hang out with her. Susie was here! The realization of all Noelle’s dreams!

They reached the front door, it seemed to Noelle, before they left the gate. Noelle opened it for Susie to enter, still not confident enough to speak. Susie’s visit was integral to Noelle, after all. A misspoken word could ruin everything, turn their meeting sour, overtake the last bastion of hope Noelle held in her waking reality. She knew they must speak at some point; Noelle even became excited in her anticipation. But they shouldn’t talk now, not while they were in transit, passing from the cold outside into the heated house. Such a perilous conversation, it would require much thought, and Noelle didn’t feel she could introduce such thought while in automatic, mindless motion. Not in circumstances so similar to when she awoke.

Noelle noticed, as she looked into the foyer, that Susie’s steps lightened, increasing their formality and deliberation, as she straightened her back and tucked her limbs close to herself. Susie’s eyes, now darting around the room, betrayed what was already obvious from her body language: The new surroundings slightly discomforted her, just as they did to anyone else who visited the Holiday household for the first time. Yet Susie’s eyes also contained a certain clarity and intensity that did not present itself in the other visitors, and Noelle couldn’t guess their source. The frenetic wandering of Susie’s eyes then halted with immediacy, as if someone propped a roadblock before them, and they rested on Noelle.

“Aren’t you going to come in?”

“Oh! R-right, yeah.” Noelle stepped inside the foyer and eased the front door to a close. From the perspective of entering the house, Noelle noticed an eerie quality to the lights. They seemed warm, but it was an exclusive warmth, a warmth which rejected her. She took off her coat, a vain attempt to resist that warmth, and hung it on a hook. “Um, here’s the living room.” Noelle brushed by Susie, taking special care not to bump into her while passing through the foyer. All the etiquette for visitors Noelle remembered blazed before her mind’s eye. She must follow it, or risk the ruin of the day.

Soon, they both found themselves in the living room, Susie taking a seat on the white and red sofa, Noelle following suit on a similarly colored chair. Remember, Noelle, you two aren’t close enough to share a seat yet. The warmth in the air didn’t seem to thaw the ice between them either. Even in such a warm place as here, both Noelle and Susie remained frozen, completely unused to each other, not knowing how they should interact. Noelle tensed, for her dream of hanging out with Susie faced danger, teetering on the edge of demise.

“Heh, I don’t ask this a lot… How are you doing?” Susie’s eyes, meditating while closed, opened upon her inquiry, looking directly into Noelle, into Noelle’s eyes, with the touch of one determinedly but genuinely curious. It stunned and humbled Noelle, to be the subject of such intense focus from the girl for which she felt such intense infatuation.

A hearth sparked within Noelle, but it quickly grew past any comfort it might have inspired, becoming an inferno of tension. Oh no, shouldn’t she, the host, have started the conversation? Why didn’t she? Oh dear, Susie must be feeling so uncomfortable, forced to take the lead. Noelle could only try to rectify her mistake, if such a feat was possible. “Oh, I’m sorry, but I’m doing… great, actually! Don’t worry about me, eh heh, I haven’t been out in the cold. But how are you?”

Susie’s eyes remained on Noelle, and silence reigned. So her attempts hadn’t fixed anything. Susie was still uncomfortable, and Noelle couldn’t comfort her. They weren’t close enough. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.

“You don’t seem great.”

Noelle could hear herself still struggling, vainly, to save this situation, inevitably sinking into the pit which now held all her hopes for the future, burning to ash. A “Don’t worry about me, please!” drifted into the air, followed by an “I should be worried about ya! You’re my visitor!” The molten goals of her life began to suffocate her, encasing her in an eternity of torture without hope for an end. What could she do, now that all her recourse burned away?

A hand gripped Noelle’s arm, pulling her back from her mind. “You really don’t seem great.”

Noelle’s mind lost every image it conjured thus far, leaving her an empty shell and inspiring a brief lull in the conversation. Perhaps in her shock from her return to reality, or in her exhaustion from dealing with her own mind thus far, Noelle’s next words voiced her very next concern, her very next impulse, no matter how invasive it was. “You’re never so forward, Susie. Usually, ya just sit behind me. Not that I’m ungrateful you’re here, but why are ya?”

Another silence took hold of the room, this one emanating from Susie as she looked on, still gripping Noelle. Her eyes betrayed an unusual turmoil broiling in her mind. They seemed… confused and fearful, like a child lost in a winter forest, subject to the worst of nature and the cold. Yet her eyes were not looking out for danger. Not out at the living room, not at the chair, not even at Noelle. No, Susie’s eyes looked within herself, searching for any answer that could possibly fulfill Noelle’s impulsive question. And failing, for the eyes seemed more defeated with each passing second, freezing in the wind.

If there was one thing Noelle wanted to avoid, at the risk of enduring all other torture, it was forcing Susie through such pain. Noelle rescinded her question. “Don’t worry about it, actually. I don’t want ya to worry at all. You’re my guest, and I don’t want ya hurting on my account.”

“... Alright.” Susie’s pause seemed deliberate, constructed, yet with a genuine desire to be genuine.

And, Noelle realized, it was alright. If Susie said it was.

A final pause, the calm after a great fight, drifted over the room. The sun still laid below the horizon, but it would begin its capture of the sky in the coming hour. Hometown, slowly, would wake up, not knowing the great struggles of the two teenagers who had already awoken almost an hour prior. These thoughts brought Noelle away from the edge of her worry, even if this solution was temporary at best. Even if her mind wouldn’t recall these thoughts as her future worries came. The world kept on moving. Life continued. And they, Noelle and Susie, still part of the youngest of Hometown, held their whole lives ahead of them.

“The human and the monster will sacrifice themselves on this day,” Noelle’s mind reminded her, a cruel attempt to draw her back into the chilling blaze of anxiety.

Her dreams seemed further away now, like the human and monster to which the voices surely referred. Such removal from the reality of dreams was expected with time spent in the waking world. Noelle faced her visitor, now moving on, moving into the day ahead. Hope, such a rare thing for her, yet she would make the most of it.

“Hey, um, Susie… I’m glad ya came. You’ve really helped.”

“I’m glad.” Susie shone with a wide grin, a grin in which Noelle wanted to wrap her whole self, physical and mental and especially emotional. That grin was a shining point of hope in the struggles of the coming day, a point onto which Noelle could hold and remember herself. Susie was a miracle, truly.

Susie spoke up again. “Do you wanna walk to school together?”

Noelle gave her own, muted smile, a shadow of Susie’s. “Yeah… I would like that… when it comes time.”


	3. 7:00 AM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Here's my next chapter! How well are you liking the story so far? I hope it's enjoyable. Thank you for reading!

QC’s Diner opened to the whims of outside, to snow and morning wind and chill, to the whole of Hometown, as it did every day: at 7:00 AM sharp. The owner of the diner, pocketing her keys, glanced around the area before her, searching for any other early morning patrons as she held open the door to the world. Finding no one else, she turned her attention to the one person who always stood there at this time, awaiting the opening of QC’s.

Crossing her arms and donning an amused smirk, the diner owner responded to the other’s presence. “Oh, hello, Officer Undyne. What must you want to know this morning?”

Officer Undyne drew herself up into a straightened posture, injecting her voice with all the force of her stance. “Have you seen anything suspicious since we last spoke? Anything lost or misplaced or even moved?” She focused an invasive gaze on the owner. “What’s happening in Hometown!?” Undyne then paused, allowing the owner the space to answer her.

Undyne maintained this one regular aspect of her morning routine, checking in with someone who knew the pulse of Hometown better than her, with good reason. Since Undyne was a police officer, the citizens of Hometown made sure to follow the law in her presence, keeping her from seeing any crime they might commit. However, in the past month, speaking with this person who witnessed the darker parts of Hometown, Undyne felt she better understood its whole, and therefore was a better officer. She must strive to keep everyone in this town safe by any means. It was the duty she resolved to undertake.

The owner maintained her smirk. “Why don’tcha come in, out of the cold? I’ll tell ya everything inside.”

A wind blew past, cementing the owner’s words, and Undyne quickly accepted them, dashing into QC’s. Every surface— the tables, the chairs, the floor— held the sheen of a recent cleaning, the same sheen of most eating establishments upon their first minutes after opening. The sky outside, still a rich, deep, and solid blue, incrementally lightened with the coming sun, a small portion of that light entering the diner. The typical diner lights then turned on, bright and stark and clean as everything else, displaying that the diner was ready to accept service. It was the atmosphere of always, an atmosphere that might be comforting to some.

Undyne, however, fidgeted as she awaited the beginning of the owner’s report. With her hands, she drew a small notebook from her pocket, opening it to its thirty-first page as she removed a pen from its binding. She scribbled the date at the top of this page, and as she did, she slid her foot across the freshly cleaned floor. All the while, the owner set herself before the coffee maker, starting an initial brew for the coming customers. The owner then turned back to lean against the counter, propping her chin in her hands, facing Undyne. “So, let’s get to it, then.”

Undyne looked up and reminded the owner of the question at hand. “Have you seen anything suspicious in the last twenty-four hours?”

“Well, it snowed last night—” The owner’s eyes swelled with amused light as Undyne jotted down even that inane fact, for it might come of use later— “so a lot of people just stayed home, including myself. There was a car passing through—” Undyne’s scribbling intensified— “They were probably just going to Ebbot, darling. And when I came into work, there was a rustling behind the trash— Just a racoon, no doubt.”

“Thank you for the information.” Undyne rolled her fingers, eager to proceed with the part of the report which wasn’t routine— asking for details, which changed every day. But she needed time to formulate her questions. “So, you got anything new?”

“Just for you, darling.” The owner flowed up from the counter into a stroll toward the kitchen. Once she reached the door, she looked back at Undyne, then entered, leaving Undyne in the dining area, alone. The coffee finished brewing, its pot preserving its heat.

Undyne took a seat upon a stool to analyze her notebook. Snow last night— probably just the weather. Undyne was on good terms with the weather, for in its unpredictability, it never brought true, lasting harm to Hometown. The car— passing through? If it didn’t stop, that explanation was plausible. Alright, there was her first question— Did it stop? And the rustling— Ask about the wildlife around here, and ask if there was anyone lurking around the diner yesterday. Yes, she had three good things to ask about!

After her determination, Undyne passed the time with a game of guessing what new dish the owner was making for her. It was always different, and different was to Undyne’s liking. Utilizing the window that opened to the kitchen, she could see and hear parts of the process, like the closure of an oven, or the sizzle of a grill, or the absence of either, allowing evidence for her conclusions. In any case, this exercise easily translated into more serious deductions in line with her work. Now, let’s see. Through the window, the owner poured a few ingredients out of sight, then she stepped forward. A faint whirr sifted out into the diner— the whirr signature of the smoothie maker. So Undyne would get a smoothie of some kind.

As the owner crafted Undyne’s breakfast, a new patron slunk into the diner, taking a quiet seat on the opposite end of the counter. That yellow-scaled, lizard-like monster— She was one of the teachers at the school, wasn’t she? Heh, Undyne could never subject herself to that stress. Kids were absolutely terrible to deal with. Undyne hoped the teacher was doing well; she didn’t seem it. Maybe Undyne should…

The diner owner emerged from the kitchen, and the teacher simply lifted her head. Keeping her stroll fluid, the owner approached the teacher. “What’ll be today, Alphys, darling?”

The teacher formed a weak smile. “Just a coffee, please.”

The owner’s smirk remained as stark as ever. “Coming right up, darling. Just let me get this order over here.” She flowed to where Undyne sat. “Here’s your order: one blackberry smoothie. Now let me take this other order, and I’ll be right with you, darling.”

Undyne automatically replied. “Thank you.”

“No problem, honey.” The owner strolled back to the coffee brewer.

Welp, Undyne had to wait a little more. In an unconscious gesture, her foot reached the ground and began a staccato of tapping, and with her hands, she flipped through the pages of her notebook, a collage of past inquiries, leading back to the first. Undyne felt her stomach drop at this action, revisiting that page, that record of what made her buy the journal in the first place. But she had to face it at some point, so why not now? Besides, she already made herself face it from time to time. Facing your fears was a necessity of being a police officer. So, Undyne continued. ‘Suspicious activity in Hometown before their disappearance?’ her notes read. ‘Anyone new? Anyone old? Themself? (Likely) What happened? If they ran away, why?’

‘Why did I fail them?’

And scrawled across the entire page: ‘Lost.’

The one case she could not solve.

“Darling, what did ya want to ask me?”

The owner, once again, stood before Undyne, her smirk ever present. The teacher huddled over her coffee, far removed from the two others. Oh right, the questions. They would serve as a good distraction. Undyne took a second to recall them while flipping back to that day’s page.

“Did the car you saw last night slow or stop at all?”

The owner looked up in a practised fashion, pausing a few seconds before returning her gaze to Undyne. “It didn’t stop, honey.”

Undyne jotted it down. “Is there any wildlife in the area which could have caused the rustling behind the dumpster?”

The owner replicated her movements. “Probably a racoon, sweetie.”

More jotting. “Are you sure no one acted suspicious near that dumpster?”

“I’m sure, sweetheart. It’s not my business to worry about stolen trash. I didn’t want it.”

It wasn’t her business. The owner was simply a hardworking citizen of Hometown, not a trained spy, officially searching for crime with the same vivacity as a police officer. And Undyne shouldn’t forget it. “That’s fine. Thank you again.” Another automatic response. Undyne closed her notebook and put it away, now only looking forward to her blackberry smoothie. Like clockwork, the teacher left, scuttling out into the day ahead. This day promised to be exactly like the days before, despite Undyne’s efforts.

The sky, a few minutes earlier such a deep blue, now lightened from the onslaught of the sun, preparing for the breach which would bring full daylight. Undyne jittered in anticipation; her foot’s staccato intensified, and she resumed rolling her fingers. However, she couldn’t expect a release, not from today, a day like all others. She finally shot out of her stool, desperately grasping for any new experience that day, just as the door to the diner opened once again.

Two new, teenage patrons entered the diner, one a purple scaled monster with a matching hoodie, the other— Hey, wasn’t that Mayor Holiday’s kid? The kid’s name— Noelle, right? Well, she took the lead, and the other monster kept herself behind. Noelle’s eyes periodically shifted back to her partner, and an eerie light gleamed in the partner’s eyes— but only for a second, before she quelled it. What did it mean? Well, Undyne knew that, at the very least, they stood entrenched in the fires of reckless youth. She wished them luck along their journey, luck in avoiding dark temptations, spewing from the flames like smoke. The new monsters walked up to two stools along the counter, taking their seats and the attention of the owner.

Noelle spoke first. “Hello, thank ya for serving us! We’ll, um, have, um… What’s… Sorry…”

The purple monster burst in with a gravelly, yet assertive voice. “We’ll have two small coffees.”

The owner curtly nodded, her smirk now introducing comfort to the air. “Coming right up, loves.” She walked back to the coffee brewer. “Two coffees for Susie and Noelle!” She always seemed to keep a smoothness about her, no matter what company she served.

Noelle visibly reddened as Undyne returned to her own stool. It was always nice to see the residents of Hometown in their natural lives, secured. She helped foster it, even if she hadn’t made any new stride to protect them today. Except, wait, these teenagers may know about unruliness among the students of Hometown, a knowledge that even the diner owner didn’t hold. They might even be unruly themselves! The coming of these two must be a second chance for Undyne to discover a threat looming over Hometown, allowing her to obliterate it! Hell yeah! She just had to question them.

The purple monster exclaimed, “Augh, I’m sorry, Noelle. Didn’t mean to butt in on you like that.” Her eyes flashed, for a moment, with an odd hint of violence, out of place in her apology.

“N-No, it’s fine, Susie. I wasn’t saying anything of worth.” They shared a look, and Undyne, again, couldn’t quite pick up what it meant. It had traces of anger, but also longing and regret, in both of their gazes. At least Undyne now heard Susie’s name twice, helping her remember, but her suspicion still flared at that look.

Just to make sure, Undyne wrote both the teenagers’ names in her journal as Noelle spoke again. “Still, you don’t need to pay—”

“Please. I couldn’t do anything less for you, especially this morning.”

“... Alright.”

“Here’s your coffee, loves.” The owner gave the two teenagers their coffee with a gentle gesture.

Now was the time for Undyne to talk to them! She stood up and strutted over to where they sat. “Have you heard about any suspicious activity at school?”

Both of the teenagers choked on their drinks, possibly reacting to their latent guilt while under increased surveillance. Or it could just be shock, but the coming questions weren’t going to be softer. Better to thrust them right into the fray. Susie was the first to recover, and she turned to Undyne as if to respond, but she didn’t say anything. Her eyes grew stormy through her silence. Did she have something to hide?

For a second, Undyne doubted her actions, for Noelle and Susie were most likely innocent. But their answers could potentially protect Hometown from another threat, so Undyne needed to question them. It was her duty to question them.

Once she recovered, Noelle was the first to respond, with a slight quiver in her voice. “Um… N-Nothing particularly noteworthy, officer. Not that I’ve noticed.”

“Just to make sure, have any of your classmates been sneaking around this area recently?”

“Uh— uh— uh—” Noelle’s breathing grew erratic, sweat condensing upon her forehead. Susie’s eyes seemed to harden, if such an act was possible from their already steely state. The owner looked on from the edge of Undyne’s vision, crossing her arms. The whole world seemed to lean in, condensing to this point, these answers, these discoveries. Undyne’s heart leaped, and Noelle finally broke her stutter. “Not that I know of, I swear!”

Just one more question, just to make sure. “So, you haven’t seen anyone suspicious around this diner?”

Noelle’s pupils shrunk, but before Undyne could make any other analysis, Susie shot up from her seat, screaming, intensifying her rasp. “Don’t you see that you’re stressing her the hell out! How would she know about that! We just got here!”

“Don’t interfere with police business!” Some actual resistance! Maybe this confrontation would lead to the discovery of a devious plot! Undyne kept her mind on that conclusion to distract her from any others she might make. She had to be impartial. “This is for your safety!”

“Alright, sweeties, please calm down.” The owner interjected herself in the midst of the confrontation with a strength that none of the others held. She even replaced her smirk with a stern expression. “I own this place, and I don’t allow drama here. Stop, or I’ll be forced to remove you darlings, and I’d truly hate to do that.” Her smirk returned, but her residual strength endured in her gaze.

Susie’s eyes shone with a glint more unrecognizable than ever, but instead of lashing out with ever increasing ferocity, she forced herself down into her seat, next to Noelle. They shared another indecipherable look, and they both stood up, coffees in hand. They exchanged a grateful goodbye with the owner, expressing all their apologies in full, and they gave Undyne nothing but a sidelong glance as they walked away from the counter. The wind blew at its strongest point as they exited the diner, slamming the door closed behind them. The diner was empty once again, except for its owner and the lone static customer, the police officer of Hometown.

What did she do? Undyne drove away two of the people she swore to protect. What did she do!? How did she screw up so badly? She found no answer, not from the owner, nor any other, other than the fact that the situation simply grew out of control. So that must be it. Undyne just had to be better at controlling situations. Maybe she just needed practice. Yeah, practice would be good; practice made everyone better; she needed to be better as an officer. And chances to practice would soon arrive here, at the diner. It was perfect! Undyne turned her attention to the entrance of QC’s.

The sky outside now basked itself in gold and red, the daily watercolor of nature, a breach of the stunning unreal upon the otherwise trusted reality. Within a few seconds, the world leaped over the precipice, falling into the day proper, thrust into the daylight. Rays of the sun shot over the horizon, through the diner windows, across Undyne’s gaze in a grand display. She shielded her eyes, momentarily seeing a painful white.

Through the white, a shadowed figure entered the diner, indecipherable by any specific feature. Its only significance was the fact that the light seemed to flow behind it, forced into submission, into a pair of seeming wings drifting behind its back. The air held a certain awe at the entrance of this figure, a moment of pure glory, mesmerizing bliss, before Undyne’s gaze cleared. The figure was a skeleton monster, about as tall as Undyne, with a pleasant smile and very distinctive boots. Sure, the rest of his apparel was odd— Lab coats weren’t normal in Hometown, by any means— but the red of his worn boots stood in contrast to the rest of him, colorless and proper.

The skeleton marched toward the owner, electing not to take a seat at the counter. “Good morning, madam! May I purchase a black coffee from this fine establishment?”

Someone new! Undyne allowed herself to grow excited once more, yet she asserted some control over the emotion to avoid causing any commotion. When did he get here? It certainly escaped her notice. How long had he known he was moving here? It wasn’t a small feat, moving to a small town. Where was he staying? Had anyone else known he was coming? Undyne’s mind pulsed with questions, each one struggling to escape into speech, but she withheld them for now. She should wait until the skeleton settled, and as she did, she sat down again.

In contrast to Undyne’s mood, the owner narrowed her eyes, yet her smirk remained. “Of course, darling.”

“Also,” the skeleton interjected. “If you would please, call me ‘Papyrus.’ I don’t take kindly to pet names.”

The owner’s smirk did not falter, but her eyes smoothed in cooler calculation. “Alright, Papyrus. One black coffee.” She strode back to the coffee brewer, pouring a final cup, then refilling the pot. Undyne slipped to the edge of her seat, awaiting the skeleton’s reception of the coffee. Just one more second, Undyne.

“Why, this is marvellous!” The skeleton swept his arms in a grand gesture, then sat upon a stool to enjoy his coffee. The owner turned back and entered the kitchen, wanting to bake some delicacies for her displays. This morning had been unusually busy, with teachers and students and skeletons coming in, even if all they wanted was coffee. Well, all the better for Undyne to become better. Undyne measured her removal from her stool, forcing herself to be calm as she walked over to the skeleton. How did the owner maintain her paced, flowing stroll? Undyne could barely manage a disjointed one.

She came to the skeleton with a jolt of a halt. “How recently did you move to Hometown?”

The skeleton turned, keeping his smile. “Why, hello there, officer! I have been a resident of this marvellous town for over a month, but I must admit, I have been something of a recluse, working on my projects. Also, if you would please, call me ‘Papyrus.’”

Undyne flipped open her notebook yet again, jotting down that the skeleton preferred that name. The skeleton in question— Papyrus— left his eyes sockets on her, yet it was impossible to tell what depth of interest they held. They were just empty.

“I see you have taken to keeping a journal, yet— and I don’t mean to offend you— you don’t seem the type. May I inquire about your reasons for acquiring this journal?”

Undyne straightened herself into a forceful stance and gaze again. “That is police business.”

Papyrus put his elbow on the counter, his chin in his hand as he leaned forward. “Interesting! Many would lie in their answer, you know, if it were something deeply personal, yet you stick to the truth, or at least a truth that applies.” Undyne wasn’t sure how to react as Papyrus continued, freeing his arms to perform more sweeping motions. “That is commendable! I do say, despite your blunt and forceful introduction, you have been most kind and open to me, more so than any other resident of Hometown.”

“Uh… Thanks.” Undyne guessed it was a compliment, so she would accept it as one.

With a snap, Papyrus was back to drinking his coffee. Somehow. It disappeared somewhere in his neck bones, mildly intriguing Undyne, but otherwise not holding much significance to her. Papyrus, however, must have noticed her brief interest. “Ah, are you curious about how I manage to consume, well, anything?”

“Um, alright.” Papyrus seemed eager to share, and Undyne wasn’t opposed to hearing it. She had learned what she wanted, and right now, she just needed to finish her smoothie. She took another sip.

“Well, one of the magical properties of skeleton biology is the seeming invisibility of digestion. Now, our digestive tracts are assuredly invisible, but our bodies do not influence our food and drink in the same manner. Therefore, to avoid displaying the image of digestion from our stomachs—” Papyrus’s pause would have been dramatic if Undyne’s attention wasn’t focused on her smoothie— “our digestive tracts exist in miniature, at the bottom of our throats.”

Undyne took a breath. “Cool.”

“Yes, science has always fascinated me.” Papyrus looked up in wistful thought, as if to the sky, shining with the lone diamond of the sun. He drew his gaze back down to Undyne. “I hope I don’t intrude on your duties of the day, but if you are free at some point, may I call upon you to assist me?”

This topic broached Undyne’s interest. “Well, if it doesn’t concern the safety of Hometown—”

“I assure you, it deeply matters to the safety of this town.”

“Well, then… Yeah! I can help!” It was always her ultimate goal, protecting Hometown, and this newcomer skeleton, Papyrus— He graced her with the opportunity to protect it better than she had in all days past. She wouldn’t waste it; it was the fulfillment of her duty!

Papyrus’s pleasant smile returned to his face. “That is fantastic to hear. I shall call upon you when you have no other pressing matters, I assure you. Now, if you excuse me, I must get back to my experiments for the time being.” He pushed himself out of his stool with a little leap, eager and assured and excited for the coming day. His action inspired the same excitement in Undyne, finally. This day might finally have something new in store.

Reaching the door, Papyrus turned back, the bright light of dawn behind him. “Farewell!” He gave Undyne an exaggerated wave of his hand, and he was through the door and gone, entering the beautiful, mesmerizing light.

The owner emerged from the kitchen, flowing to Undyne while holding a platter of baked goods. “Be careful with him, hun.”

“I appreciate your concern, but I’m a police officer. I’d pummel him before he could do anything!” Undyne replicated the motion with her fist. And if he was a threat, that pummelling would do Hometown a favor!

The owner chuckled. Her smirk still persisted. “Alright, just be warned, he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who has the strength to fight with brute force.”

“I’m trained to fight with much more than brute force!”

The owner began to position her food displays as Undyne took her final sip of blackberry smoothie. “Thank you for the smoothie, by the way.”

“Oh, it’s absolutely no problem.” The owner’s eyes travelled to the clock before the front entrance, Undyne’s following them. It was almost 8:00 AM. Wow, time sure flew by today, with all the questionings. Undyne should start patrolling Hometown as soon as possible.

“I have to leave. Goodbye!”

“Goodbye, Officer Undyne!” The owner mirrored Undyne’s farewell. “I hope and expect to see you outside my diner tomorrow, at the same time, darling.”

Well, now it was Undyne’s time to enter the sunlight, following all the other patrons before her. She marched across the diner, swung open the door, and closed it with an accidental slam, a symptom of vivacity. The owner chuckled. The world outside— both Hometown and the diner— moved so fast, sometimes the owner wasn’t sure how to keep its pace. But she managed to carve out this little area for herself, this little section of world where she could spread affection for her work at whatever rate she pleased. It was a simple life, but to her, preferable, and as the sun rose into the day proper, she felt that she could deal with it, as it came.


End file.
